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Special Advisers

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many unpaid special advisers the Office has; what their names are; and which Government (a) bodies, (b) committees and (c) strategy groups each unpaid adviser (i) belongs to, (ii) advises and (iii) works alongside. [194080]

Ruth Kelly: For information relating to numbers and names of unpaid advisers I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 22 July 2004, Official Report, columns 466–70W.

Special advisers, whether paid or unpaid, are employed under the terms and conditions set out in the Model Contract for Special Advisers. Unpaid advisers are appointed in accordance with the requirements of paragraph 51 of the Ministerial Code.

TREASURY

Correspondence

Tony Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the Chairman of the Inland Revenue will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Workington dated 18 August. [194342]

Dawn Primarolo: The Chairman of the Inland Revenue has replied on 27 October to the letter from the hon. Member.

Double Taxation Convention

Mrs. Brooke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether a former UK civil servant in receipt of a civil service pension permanently resident in the US but not a US citizen can opt to pay only US tax under the double taxation convention. [194162]

Dawn Primarolo: Under Article 19 of the 2001 UK/US Double Taxation Convention, the UK has the right to tax a UK civil service pension where the recipient is a resident, but not a national, of the US. There is no provision in the Convention which allows the recipient to opt to pay only US tax.

Employment (North Southwark and Bermondsey)

Simon Hughes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people were in full-time employment in North Southwark and Bermondsey constituency in each year since 1997. [194311]

Mr. Timms: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
 
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Letter from Colin Mowl to Mr. Simon Hughes, dated 28 October 2004:

The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about employment. I am replying in his absence. (194311)

The attached table gives estimates of the number of people in full-time employment and resident in the North Southwark and Bermondsey Parliamentary Constituency for the twelve months ending February each year from 1997 to 2003, the latest date for which information is available.

These estimates from the Labour Force Survey are, as with any sample survey, subject to sampling variability.

People⁽¹⁶⁾ in full-time employment⁽¹⁷⁾ resident in the North Southwark and Bermondsey parliamentary constituency—12 months ending in February each year from 1997 to 2003

	Thousand
1997	30
1998	34
1999	36
2000	45
2001	42
2002	43
2003	39

⁽¹⁶⁾ People refer to those aged 16 and over.
2 The definition of full-time employment is based on respondents' self-classification.
Source:
ONS Labour Force Survey

Equity Release Schemes

Lynne Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on equity release schemes and inheritance tax. [194366]

Dawn Primarolo: There have been no recent changes to the inheritance tax rules which have any impact on equity release schemes.

Pensioners (London)

Simon Hughes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many pensioners live in (a) the North Southwark and Bermondsey constituency, (b) the Camberwell and Peckham constituency and (c) the Dulwich and West Norwood constituency. [194310]

Mr. Timms: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.

Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Simon Hughes, dated 28 October 2004:

As National Statistician and Registrar General for England and Wales I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many pensioners live in (a) The North Southwark and Bermondsey constituency, (b) the Camberwell and Peckham constituency and (c) the Dulwich and West Norwood Constituency (194310)

Mid-year population estimates on pensioners are not available for Parliamentary Constituencies. I have therefore provided figures taken from the 2001 Census.

 
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The table below shows the number of people living in each of the constituencies on Census day (29 April 2001). The figures have been extracted from Table CAS002 on the CD supplement to the "Census 2001 Census Area Statistics for Parliamentary Constituencies in England and Wales", which is available on request from Census Customer Services ([e-mail]).

	England
Area	All people	People of pensionable age1
North Southwark and Bermondsey	111,860	13,164
Camberwell and Peckham	79,096	9,255
Dulwich and West Norwood	99,619	12,681

⁽¹⁷⁾ Pensionable age is 65 and over for males and 60 and over for females.
Source:
2001 Census Report for Parliamentary Constituencies.

Private Finance Initiatives

Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what guidance is provided to procuring authorities about the treatment of PFI arrangements in the accounts of public bodies. [193891]

Mr. Boateng: In determining the accounting treatment of PFI arrangements, public bodies are required to follow United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice, Including Financial Reporting Standards issued by the independent Accounting Standards Board (ASB).

The specific guidance issued by the ASB on accounting for PFI is 'Application Note F to FRS 5—Private Finance Initiative and Similar Contracts', as supplemented by the HM Treasury issued 'Technical Note No 1 (Revised)—How to Account for PFI transactions'.

Tax Credits

Mr. Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will introduce a steeper taper for those eligible for tax credits to prevent disincentive for those who wish to work for more than 16 hours a week. [194680]

Dawn Primarolo: The vast majority, over 90 per cent., of main earners in couples benefiting from tax credits work over 35 hours per week. The tax credits system contains several elements which help those who wish to increase their working hours. There is a 30-hour element in the working tax credit (WTC) worth £640 per year. The child care element of WTC is payable to lone parents and to couples where both partners work at least 16 hours per week and provides up to 70 per cent. of costs up to certain limits. Finally, the tax credits system disregards income rises from the previous tax year of up to £2,500, so tax credit recipients whose family income increases by up to this amount will not see any reduction in their current year's award.

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people claimed the 50-plus return to work element of the working tax credit in 2003–04. [194754]

Dawn Primarolo: The final number of beneficiaries in 2003–04 will be shown in the annual statistical publication for that year, which is due to be published in May 2005.
 
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FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Afghanistan

Mr. Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many opium seizures have been made (a) in Afghanistan and (b) on Afghan borders since UK forces took control of the international community's efforts to stop the flow of drugs from Afghanistan. [193467]

Mr. Rammell: The UK took on lead nation status for coordinating international counter narcotics activity in Afghanistan in April 2002. We remain committed to supporting the Afghan Government in implementation of their Afghan National Drug Control Strategy, and have allocated more than £70 million over three years for counter narcotics activity plus significant development funding and support for alternative livelihoods. The British Embassy Drugs Team, with assistance from other Government Departments, rather than UK forces, is the main delivery agent of this support and coordination.

Since it became operational in January 2003, the Afghan Special Narcotics Force, supported by UK advice and funding, has seized over 50 tonnes of opiates. In addition, the Counter Narcotics Police of Afghanistan, which was created in January 2003 with UK support, report that to date they have seized 2.1 tons heroin and 13.6 tons opium, over 1.5 tons of which were achieved specifically in UK supported operations together with 4.6 tons of precursor chemicals. The Afghan general and border police also seize opiates in the course of their work, but we do not have reliable figures.

In addition, the UK works closely with Afghanistan's neighbours, including providing assistance, to help their efforts to counter the flow of opiates from Afghanistan. These countries have reported that in excess of 100 tonnes of opiates were seized in 2003.

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